25 December 2015 

It was a successful 2015 for Richard Whitehead who retained his T42 200m world title for the third successive occasion.

On Christmas day, we get the lowdown of what will be going on in the Whitehead household as he prepares for the festive period with fiancée Val and two children Zarah and Andrew.

What do you want for Christmas?

I just want my kids to be happy – I’ve got so much anyway, it’s all about them.

Best part about Christmas? 

Spend time with the family and getting a bit of downtime from training.

Worst thing about Christmas?                                                                                                 

Not being able to indulge because we’ve got warm weather training in January and I don’t want to be a fatty heading out to South Africa! I’ll probably allow myself a pudding, so maybe a Pavlova will be on the cards.

Favourite part about Christmas dinner?

Three bird roast or beef!

Sprouts or no sprouts?  

Sprouts definitely – I like sprouts!

Thing most likely to leave on a plate?

 I don’t like stuffing or Christmas pudding!

Who’s the chef in the household?

My fiancée Val, I’m the lazy one!

Early riser or lie in on Christmas Day?

Lie in, but I’m sure Zarah will be there to wake me up at 5am though.

How good is your wrapping up?

It’s pretty good; the tip is to use lots of tape!

What traditions do you have?

I like going for a little run on Christmas day and Val says I sit down and let everyone do everything else for me.

New Year’s resolution?

It’s probably all centred around getting my nutrition right for Rio.

How would you sum up your 2015?

I had a little boy which was nice. Retained my world title for the first time, so that’s a good platform for future success with family and sport.